1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fishing reel including a display device which is used to display various kinds of measured information and set information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-144478 of Showa, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-104151 of Heisei, there is known a fishing reel including a fishing line length measuring instrument disposed in the upper portion of a reel main body and capable of measuring and displaying the play-out quantity and take-up quantity of a fishing line which is wound around a spool rotatably supported between the two side plates of the reel main body.
In these publications, numeric display values within a display device included in the fishing line length measuring instrument are displayed in such a manner that they are arranged and fixed in the axial direction of the spool. Due to this, there are still left in the conventional display device some problems to be solved as follows:
(1) When gripping and holding a fishing reel or rotating a handle provided in the fishing reel, some of the anglers grip and hold the fishing reel by their dominant hands, and others grip and hold the fishing reel in such a manner that the handle of the fishing reel can be rotated by their dominant hands.
In some fishing spots, it is better for the angler to grip and hold the fishing reel by his or her dominant hand, while rotating the handle by the other hand; and, in the others, it is better for the angler to rotate the handle by his or her dominant hand, while gripping and holding the fishing reel by the other hand. To cope with this, it is convenient to prepare two kinds of fishing reels: that is, one is a fishing reel which allows a fishing line to be wound around a spool by rotating a handle provided on the left side of the fishing reel (a fishing reel of a left handle type); and, the other is a fishing reel which allows a fishing line to be wound around a spool by rotating a handle provided on the right side of the fishing reel (a fishing reel of a right handle type). However, it is not economical to prepare two kinds of fishing reels.
Conventionally, there is known a fishing reel of a type structured such that the right and left directions of the reel main body thereof can be reversed right and left to thereby switch the fishing reel over to the so called left handle or right handle type fishing reel, so that the fishing reel is able to cope with the above-mentioned conditions of the fishing spots.
However, as described above, since the display device is disposed on the upper portion of the reel main body, if the direction of the reel main body is reversed, then the display direction of the numeric figure display portion within the display device is also reversed, which makes it difficult to recognize the display values visually; that is, in this case, the angler has to use in some patience the fishing reel that is not able to deal with the conditions of the fishing spot sufficiently. This means that the fishing reel provides a poor efficiency in the angling operation.
Also, even when the reel main body is structured so that it can be used in common for the left- and right-handle fishing reels, if the display device is disposed on its associated reel side plate, it is necessary to produce two kinds of reel side plates which can be used exclusively for the left and right handles.
(2) Depending on the direction in which an angler looks at the fishing reel in an actual fishing operation, the display values may be seen sideways so that they are difficult to read, that is, it is not possible for the angler to recognize the display values such as the fishing line length value and the like easily and smoothly in the actual fishing operation.
For example, when the angler leaves the fishing position for some reason or other while leaving the fishing rod in the fishing position in boat fishing or the like, if the angler sees the display values sideways with respect to the fishing reel, then the display values are difficult to read even when they are arranged in the forward direction thereof.
Moreover, in these publications, the display device of the fishing line measuring instrument is disposed outside one of the two side plates of the reel main body, while the display values of the present display device are displayed in such a manner that the numerical values thereof are arranged in the axial direction of the spool. Due to this, there are further left in the conventional display device some problems to be solved as follows:
(3) Since the display device projects outwardly of the side plate, not only the display device increases the size of the fishing reel outwardly in the axial direction thereof but also it is easy to drop down or can be butted against some other thing, that is, the display device can be influenced by an external force, so that the display device is easy to break down.